The Ministry of Defence of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի պաշտպանության նախարարություն) often abbreviated to the RA Ministry of Defence is an Armenian governmental agency in charge of overseeing the development of the Armed Forces of Armenia. The Ministry of Defense is also the executive body which implements the policies of the Armenian Government in the defense sector. It particularly oversees the budget of the armed forces and ensures the safety of troops. It is located on 5 Bagrevand Street,

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

. The ministry was officially established on 28 January 1992 by decree of the

President of Armenia The president of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Նախագահ, Hayastani Nakhagah) is the head of state and the guarantor of independence and territorial integrity of Armenia elected to a single seven-year term by the National Assembly of Arm ...

History

On 5 December 1991, by the decision of the Government of the Armenian SSR, the State Defense Committee under the Council of Ministers was created. The first head of this department was

Vazgen Sargsyan Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan ( hy, Վազգեն Զավենի Սարգսյան, ; 5 March 1959 – 27 October 1999) was an Armenian military commander and politician. He was the first Defence Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992 and then from ...

. On 28 January 1992, the Government of Armenia adopted a resolution "On the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia", which was actually a renaming of the previously created State Defense Committee. Sargsyan was appointed the first Minister of Defense of Armenia. The police patrol and special operations regiment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia, the civil defense regiment of the Civil Defense Headquarters of the Republic of Armenia and the republican

military commissariat A military commissariat is an institution that is part of military service or law enforcement mechanisms in some European countries. As part of the British Army in the 19th century, military commissariats were used for organisational, accounti ...

were transferred to the subordination of the newly formed ministry. The next step was the creation of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Defense, which included the Main Headquarters and management. In May 1992, the Ministry of Defense carried out the first conscription of military servicemen on the territory of the republic. The formation of the military department coincided with the beginning of large-scale operations in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, in which the Armed Forces of Armenia actively participated. The Ministry of Defense was directly involved in the command of the Armenian forces in the territory of

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik, and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is m ...

and the formations of the

Artsakh Defense Army The Artsakh Defence Army ( hy, Արցախի Հանրապետության պաշտպանության բանակ, Artsakhi Hanrapetut’yan pashtpanut’yan banak) is the defence force of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh ( Nagorno-Karabakh). E ...

. At the end of hostilities in early 1994, the military department of Armenia began the process of military reformation.Исторический очерк на официальном сайте Министерства обороны Республики Армения
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Building

It is currently located at a building on 5 Bagrevand Street, Yerevan. In 1993, the building of the former hospital complex was handed over to the Ministry for the construction of a new building complex of the Ministry of Defense, but due to the lack of financial means, no construction was initiated. On the day of the 17th anniversary of Armenia's independence in 2008, the new building of the Ministry of Defense was officially opened. The main buildings of the complex, which covers an area of about 26 hectares, housed the Minister and his staff, the General Staff's Operative and Communication Department, rear services, a board hall for 380 people, a banquet hall, a canteen, fitness halls, and clinics. Auxiliary buildings include a swimming pool, boiler room, sports grounds and complex, checkpoints, barracks, centralized communication system, shooting range, a closed and spacious parking lot and a large helipad. The construction cost of the complex was 13 billion drams. The Russian "Ingeocom-Yerevan" company was recognized as the general contractor for the construction of the complex.

Structure

Apparatus

*Collegium’s Work Organization Division *Insignia Division *Supervisory Department *Administrative Division *Analytical Division *Secretariat Division

Departments subordinated to the Ministry

* Defense Policy Department * Finance, Budget and Planning Department * Capital Construction and Housing Department * Internal Audit Department * Information and Public Affairs Department * HR and Education Department * Legal Department * Social Security Department *Logistics Department

Services

* Conscription and Mobilization Service * Central Military-Medical Committee ** Central Clinical Military Hospital **Military Medical Training Centre * Human Rights and Integrity Building Centre * Council of the Union of Veterans of the Ministry of Defense *Military Control Service of the Ministry of Defense

Central Clinical Military Hospital

It was created on March 15, 1994 in Yerevan. In May 2020, the surgical department, the neurosurgery department and the anesthesia department were named after Major Sergey Harutyunyan, Captain Karo Heboyan and Lieutenant Tigran Hovesyan, who were killed in a helicopter crash in early January 2000.

Other units and subordinate institutions

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

** 12th Peacekeeping Brigade *

Special Forces Regiment Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Speci ...

* Separate Regiment of Protection ** Honour Guard Company * BKMA Yerevan * Army Chaplaincy Program of the Armenian Church *Song and Dance Ensemble

Military Police

The

( hy, Ռազմական ոստիկանություն; Rrazmakan vostikanut’yun) fall under the command of the Ministry of Defence, being considered to be a division that is separate from the central apparatus. The Military Police was established in May 1992 and had no special status until 2007, when a law to define the Military Police status was adopted. Its status is defined in the RA Law on Military Police, which says that the Military Police is responsible for the investigation of military crimes in the armed forces that were committed on the territory of military units and the deterrence of crimes being planned or committed by military servicemen. The Military Police Bylaws were approved by the

Government of Armenia A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

on 25 December 2008. The military police is in control of the peacekeeping brigade.

Separate Regiment of Protection

The Separate Regiment of Protection is a security unit of the armed forces under the ministry. The Honour Guard Company falls under its command. it descends from the Yerevan Special Regiment, founded on 20 September 1990 with 26 platoons from Yerevan. In 2008, the regiment, as this point known as the Capital Regiment, handed over its territory to the Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade, moving to a different location. It has taken part in the

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2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade The 2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade was a military parade that took place in Moscow's Red Square on 24 June 2020 to commemorate the 75th Diamond Jubilee of both the capitulation of Nazi Germany in the Second World War in 1945 and the historic Mosco ...

s on

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...

. It is currently led by Colonel Ashot Hakobyan a graduate of the

Moscow Higher Military Command School The Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School ''"Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR"'' (abbreviated to MVOKU) is a higher military educational institution of the Russian Armed Forces. History The school was formed in December 15, 1917 (O.S., December ...

. The Armenian contingent at the 2010 parade was led by the grandson of Soviet Armenian Marshal

Sergei Khudyakov russian: Серге́й Алекса́ндрович Худяко́в , native_name_lang = , image = Sergei Khudyakov.jpg , alt = , caption = Khudyakov in 1944 , birth_date = , birth_place = Mets Tagher villag ...

, Lieutenant Colonel Vardan Khanferyants. The contingent's color guard held the flag of the 89th Rifle Division in the latter two parades.

Chaplaincy Program

The Army Chaplaincy Program of the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

(the

national church A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

) is made up of more than 50 clergymen who currently serve as

military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

s to the Armed Forces. It is jointly funded and sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the church.

Ensemble

The song and dance ensemble was formed in June 2010. The conscripts are admitted into the ensemble following an evaluation divided into these main parts: * Classical dances * Armenian folk dance * Foreign folk dances * Force movements * Perception of rhythm Razmik Marukyan, a ballet dancer and soloist at the Alexander Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet National Theatre, has been a part of the ensemble. As part of the International Army Games 2020, it performed at the Partnership Without Borders National Cultural Festival in Moscow.